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Dan Kegley/After Tom Copenhaver signed a lease management agreement with Bob and Ann Dix, former owners of radio station WOLD, that equipment, above, was moved to the studio of Copenhaver’s WZVA. The two stations are separated by only a glass window, through which can be seen Copenhaver watching Blake Frazier at the WZVA controls.

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Changes in ownership, format for WOLD

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

Listeners to local radio stations have noticed a change in the format of one of them.
WOLD, created and owned by Bob and Ann Dix, was known for its light music programming. Now, fans of classic rock, Alice Cooper and bluegrass are tuning in.
Yep. There’s a little bluegrass in the mix.
The transformation reflects the change in ownership last fall that successfully ended Tom Copenhaver telling Bob Dix for 15 years if he ever wanted to sell WOLD, to let him know.
Copenhaver, who already owned T.E.C.O. Broadcasting and WZVA in Marion, brought WOLD into his radio fold in the second-floor Main Street home of contemporary-format WZVA.
Copenhaver’s acquisition of WOLD represents what he sees as an alignment stars, the right things happening at the right time. The first star in the constellation is radio veteran Blake Frazier, who came back home a year ago to work as vice president at WZVA.
The second point of light for both Copenhaver and Dix was the local acquisition of WOLD. Dix had several offers for his station, Frazier said, but “wanted to keep it local, keep it in Smyth County. That’s our plan. We have a license application for us to take it over that will come through any day now. We’re excited about it.”
“Our goal is to have local programming on there, outside John Boy and Billy in the morning and Alice Cooper at night,” Frazier said. “That’s the Alice Cooper. We had that deal before we had the deal with Bob. Wherever he’s touring is where his show is from.”
Cooper’s show features classic rock, stories and listeners’ e-mails, Frazier said.
A bit more locally, Tim White hosts a weekly two-hour bluegrass show on WOLD, expanding his own long radio career.
“We’ve gotten real good response to that,” Frazier said. “Tim plays a lot of local artists.”
White is also host of Song of the Mountains, the PBS series filmed at the Lincoln Theatre in Marion and a member of the comedy and music group The VW Boys.
In the WZVA building, the two stations sit in studios divided by a wall with a window. WOLD is largely satellite driven, fulfilling a contract with a satellite programming distributor, Jones Radio Network. Much of radio these days is digital; computers are at the heart of both studios.
In the decade since Copenhaver got in to the radio business, and adding WOLD, he developed formats that “cover all demographics,” he said.
“We have formats on these stations that people appreciate and we have a place in the market,” Frazier said.
Looking ahead to the next 10 years, Frazier said he and Copenhaver would be in interested in growing the WZVA/WOLD group to include other stations if they become available.
“If there are other stations to acquire, we’d look at that,” Frazier said. “We have people who understand radio and cluster management. The sky’s the limit.”

Editor’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, WZVA/WOLD and Community Newspapers of Southwest Virginia are news-sharing partners.